Goodbye 2008!

Seriously? I'm not sad to see 2008 go. It's really not that anything terrible happened, it's just that nothing wonderful happened. How's that for glass half empty attitude. If you know me and what's going on in my life, you know that we are in limbo. A somewhat seeming never ending limbo. A just get through this day, week, month, year type of limbo. Well there is this little light at the end of the tunnel and I can see it. It's not huge but it's there and well, that makes me happy. 2009 is also a year of limbo, but we are getting closer and I'm determined to make this coming year more worthwhile. I hope I can look at 2009 and be kinda sad to see it go. You know the glass half full type of attitude. I much prefer that, really.

Last year, a lot of my friends and family did a word of the year type thing. I had a word, I never blogged about it, and I could not tell you what in the world it was. So, this year I will tell you my word and hopefully it will help me to remember. More on that tomorrow.

Okay, here are some of the pics from our fun filled Christmas day. It was fun. It was magical. I love Christmas with kids. Princess got a basket full of cooking tools, some mixes, and cute little apron from grandpa & grandma L. They always have the cutest thought out gifts.

Buddie giving the thumbs up having a blast with his cousins.

Just a stinkin' cute smile from Princess.

All he wanted for from Santa was the Batman Lego Wii game. Santa delivered.

Thanks to Dave and Nana for spending the morning with us. I teach primary for the 5 year old kids and a couple of weeks ago the lesson was on why we give gifts at Christmas. We read and acted out the story of the 3 wisemen bringing gifts to Jesus. Explaining to 5 year olds that we give gifts at Christmas time to show our love to others was quite the task and I'm sure went through one ear and out the other. It touched my sappy little heart though. Thank you family for all the thoughtful gifts. We love you lots.

So here's what I've been up to...

*Sigh* Anyone else feeling that great big sigh of relief that Christmas is over and done with? I've heard others get all down and depressed when its all over and I can see their point, but I just feel relieved and excited for a fresh new year and all the upcoming fun. I have all kinds of goals and plans for the coming year. You know how it is, good intentions, right? We'll see how it goes.

As far as what I've been up to, I've had a few people ask for pictures of my projects. I ended up making 5 bags, a calendar, a brag book, felt food, a doll, 2 dresses, 2 bows, and 30 paper crafted bags for my neighbor gifts. It doesn't seem like much when I look at it in words but I ensure you that you are looking at hours and hours of work. I love creating. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of a few items but I'm satisfied of how everything turned out.

I made this bag for my grandma.

This bag was for my sister-in-law. I got the pattern for all 3 of these bags on ycmt.com. It is called the 'love me, love me knot' handbag. They turned out really cute and were pretty quick to put together.

I originally made this one for my sister-in-law but I wasn't happy with how it turned out. It looks like I have a new bag. Not a bad deal, I guess.

Another bag for my mother-in-law.

My sister-in-law Emily showed me how to make these. I'm not sure where she originally got the pattern. They were super time consuming and a one time thing for sure, but they turned out beautiful and I was happy with them when they were DONE.

Both of these dress/tops come from a pattern from ycmt.com. I have made 5 of these now and love making this easy little dress. For little girls it is more of a dress but it is used more for a top for older girls. I made these with matching bows for two of my nieces.

This is my first ever doll. She was really easy and turned out so cute. I also got this pattern from ycmt.com. This picture was taken before she was finished. She is now dressed with cute little felt shoes and her hair is up in pigtails with bows. Maggie seems to really like her.

This picture was also taken before it was completed. I stuffed the little carrots, added some detail to the cookie box, and made adorable little animal cookies. I love love love the way these turned out. This pattern was also from ycmt.com. They have about a dozen different patterns for felt food and all are soooo cute. To finish this gift off I bought a lunch box and stuck it all in there.

Doing this challenge was hard. It took a lot of my time but was worth it. It is so much fun to give handmade. It means more to me to give something I've made from my own hands and I hope it means more to the recipients. As far as the prizes for the challenge, I did not win any of the drawings (no surprise, I don't win ANYTHING) but I did receive 15 free patterns worth more than 100.00. That itself is worth my time.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I will be posting soon some pics of our fun filled festivities!

Another update...

for anyone following along. Check out my group blog. The link is in the post below. Hope all is well! Next week is loaded with fun Christmas plans, so stay tuned for some actual blogging about my life. I know. A shocker. :)

Okay you peekers...that means you sister!

Alright, I have been busily working at any free moment I have available on my thrifty fifty challenge. I have a bunch of fun projects I'm working. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle this because a lot of the people that I'm making gifts for check out my blog on occasion. So, if you are interested in seeing what I've been up to my group has put together a blog. You can check it out at http://thriftyunder50.blogspot.com/ . You can also click on the thrifty fifty button to the right and it will take you to the website blog to follow what the other teams are doing. There really are some fun ideas.

Now I'm trusting you (sister!) to just be good and not go spoil your fun. But you know whatever, if you want to be a scrooge and spoil Christmas, then whatever. As for the rest of you, go see what I've been up to. I will be posting more early next week. The deadline is quickly coming (Dec. 15) and I have A LOT to do. Hope all are doing well and already enjoying the Holidays!